How to get press for yourself as a young entrepreneur

I want to share with you insider information that I’ve learned after getting a ton of press for myself and my brand Leave Normal Behind. As a young entrepreneur, getting press for yourself can make all the difference and my experience in getting in Forbes, INC and Entrepreneur Magazine has proven this.

Getting press for yourself can make all the difference.

Imagine someone Googling you because they want to check you out before they buy your book or your T-shirts or organic face cream,etc.

Now imagine that the first two pages of search results are filled with press clippings from various magazines, TV shows, podcasts and digital media platforms (like PRSUIT), all saying positive things about you and your brand.

All signalling loud and clear that you’re legit.

How do you think people feels about you now?!

Well this is literally what happens to me all the time.

After being featured in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Influencive I can tell you first hand that great press gets you more opportunities, higher speaking and consulting fees, and free VIP access to events and masterminds.

Scott Oldford, founder and CEO of Infinitus, a company that helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses with online marketing, has experienced the magic of earned media exposure first hand after scaling his two-year-old startup past 7-figures.

“It’s HUGE! The ability to have PR and then use that PR to cement your true authority is something that can’t be underestimated,” Scott explains.

“On one front, there is the credibility factor. It’s the invisible “ROI” of being able to have someone know that you are someone they should listen to.

On a second front, it allows us to reach new audiences that we wouldn’t be able to reach.

“In real world dollars and cents, we secured a $100K+ client within 3 hours of sending an email linking to an article about me in Entrepreneur magazine to our email list — it’s what gave him the confidence to sign the deal,” Scott explains.

When’s the last time you got that kind of ROI?

Of course you’re asking,

“How can I get press though?”

This is a common question asked by many young entrepreneurs.

Before I tell you what to do to get press though, let me first warn you that there are dangers attached.

You do not want to get media exposure if you’re not prepared to run a business that actually cares about its customers and the impact it makes in the world. Press is social proof on steroids,

“Press coverage is social proof on steroids,” says Geeta Nadkarni, media personality and founder of Baby Got Booked, an online course that helps visionary entrepreneurs use the power of PR for exponential growth.

I appreciate the insight that she shares because she is genuine and authentic.

“We’ve developed a system that helps you influence the influencers,” Geeta explains. “Most entrepreneurs have heard about the importance of building their email list. Well, building a list of media contacts and getting them excited about your brand is like multiplying your influence by 1000.

I agree with this because each media contact increases your influence because they come with a built in audience of hundreds of thousands of people who trust them.”

A warning – what press CANNOT do for you.

If you try to gain press to mask a sh*t product or service you will do damage to your business reputation.

People do not like to be fooled. It’s like having frosting on a cake that tastes like sh*t. No matter how good the frosting is when you bite the cake, it still tastes like sh*t.

Just think about it …

If someone reads your article that’s all frosting and has a terrible experience with you or your product later on, then they will never come back (and will tell their friends too).

Worse, journalists are trained to research things. So if you make things that break or break your promises to your customers, then THAT is the story that will be broadcast out to millions of your prospects.

If you have something great, however, press is going to accelerate your brand at light speed!

Every time you land an interview, feature, or column on a media outlet, you get to add their logo to your website and marketing materials (“As seen on”) and that allows you to build credibility and trust with your ideal prospects.

These are my tips to help you secure press.

Speak in the language of the writer. Put their interests first and frame your story in a way that fits exactly what they are looking for.

When a busy journalist is reading your pitch, they don’t care about you or your credentials — at least not at first.

All they care about is what’s in it for their audience.

According to Geeta, no matter what outlet you’re pitching and what your topic is, all journalists will evaluate your pitch using these 3 questions:

“Why now, why is this relevant to that particular audience, and why you’re the expert.”

Here are some things to contemplate:

Does it inspire, educate, empower or entertain the journalist’s audience?

Would the reader, viewer or listener’s life be improved after they spent time consuming your content?

Would they feel smarter?

In other words, are you bringing massive value to that producer or podcaster’s audience?

Ditch the press release and get journalists to fall in love with you by thinking of things in THEIR terms.

Writers really appreciate when you lessen their workload. Which means you have to understand their priorities and make sure your content is aligned with them.

Get clear on your ideal client (and then pitch a media outlet that is already talking to them)

You need to think of what your perfect reader looks like. What are their interests? What problem are they dealing with right now?

Create content that will help inspire, inform, educate and empower that audience.

Over-deliver on value-packed content. People really appreciate it when you take the time to teach them something new, so go deep instead of wide. There’s plenty of superficial crap out there on the internet, so stand out by truly sharing something that makes people think. And be careful not to overshare!

Write a killer subject line

Something that inspires curiosity and makes a journalist, who’s checking email on her phone, unable to resist opening your email.

Personalize your pitch

Whenever possible, use a journalist’s name and include a sentence telling her how much you liked one of her recent pieces. Media pros are people too and we love hearing that our hard work is actually being appreciated out there!

Include an image in the body of the email

Instead of attaching a PDF press release or image (which will get you thrown in spam), put all of your text and images in the body of your email. Just drag and drop.

Finish with a mediagenic bio

This is the grand finale! Make sure this is short, quick, concise, and gently tweaked to fit that particular media outlet’s audience. Here’s a great template to write a mediagenic bio in less than 10 minutes!

These are simple steps that you can utilize to secure press and gain the media momentum you are looking for.

There are too many people who are working hard and not receiving the type of press coverage they deserve.

If you’re looking to gain press and build a strong personal brand without spending $10,000+ then contact me: rob@leavenormalbehind.com.

Rob Fajardo is the founder of the Leave Normal Behind movement and host of LNB Tv, a Facebook live television show that discusses trending news in business, technology, innovation, social impact, and more from a millennial perspective. The purpose of Leave Normal Behind is to inspire you to become the best version of yourself and create things that matter.